New overtime rules on hold for now

The expansion of overtime rules to many salaried employees (especially mid-level managers) is currently on hold.

This is because a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction prohibiting enforcement of the new Department of Labor rules.

The rule was to increase the scope of employees who would be paid overtime. It accomplishes this by having all employees making less than $47,476/year subject to overtime. This was an increase from the threshold of $23,660. The rule was supposed to go into effect on December 1st.

Despite the preliminary injunction, employers will not be stopped from either increasing salaries or paying overtime.

The judge ordered the injunction because there are questions as to whether the Department of Labor has the authority to adjust the income threshold.